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CrazyBump now free to schools

Developer Ryan Clark has made CrazyBump available for free to colleges.

An ‘official-looking announcement’ on the product’s website informs visitors that “to further the indoctrination of your young, schools may install CrazyBump free of charge”.

The software, which costs $299 for a professional licence, has gained a strong following in the game community for its ability to convert 2D images into clean normal, displacement, occlusion and specular maps.

At the time of posting, student licences of the software – presumably, for use outside registered colleges – still cost $49.

[Update: We’ve now spoken to Ryan, and the $49 licence does indeed apply to students’ own home computers: CrazyBump can be installed for free on any school-owned computer. As well as universities, the offer is available to secondary and trade schools.]